AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff
Experienced livestock truck drivers are quitting their jobs due to stress, fines and licence suspensions, Federated Farmers executive Jason Herrick says.
Stress, fines, licence suspension and job security are top of mind for Southland livestock truck drivers.
Waka Kotahi NZTA mandated regulations that require livestock truck drivers to take a 30-minute break every 5.5 hours of driving was causing drivers to be stressed and putting animals at risk, two truck drivers who spoke to Stuff on condition of anonymity said.
The duo said that experienced truck drivers were leaving the job as the driving regulations were causing them mental and financial stress.
They said that the drivers were being pulled up by the police, being fined and taken to court over charges including making a false statement in a logbook, exceeding 5.5 hours’ work time, failure to have a 10-hour break and more.
Federated Farmers Southland junior vice president Jason Herrick said that drivers being pulled up by police and being found to be in breach of the regulations through their electronic logbooks had animal welfare and human welfare repercussions.
Herrick pointed out that drivers were incurring fines between $1000 to $10,000 with suspensions, and some would lose their licence for up to 6 months.
“There are drivers now leaving the industry hand over fist, because this is too big a risk for them,” he said.
“They’re losing drivers [with] 30+ years’ experience because of these regulations. What’s dumb about it is [that] these guys can drive their 14 hours and stick to the law, go home, or go away and drive privately for 8–10 hours, get two hours’ sleep and then go to work and be fine and legal.
“Yet, they can’t drive the truck an extra half hour to make sure the animals get to their destination on time.”
Livestock manager and driver John* said that there needed to be flexibility.
If a truck driver got hauled up by the police, they did not finish at their allocated time, which was creating a lot of pressure on the driver, he said.
“It becomes an animal welfare issue as well, in the respect that we have to sit on the side of the road for too long [half hour breaks], which, when the heat comes on, the animals are just stressed and die, basically,” John said.
A Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said that the agency’s regulatory and safer commercial transport team were aware of concerns raised by the livestock transport sector.
“They have been working alongside industry to see what can be done to address the concerns within their jurisdiction.”
Jack*, a manager who drove livestock occasionally, said that their priorities were road safety and livestock safety.
“We’re not setting out to break the law. There are so many variables that happen on that day [when dealing with] livestock, and you can’t stop, because you’ve got live animals on the back.”
Herrick said if the issue was not sorted out it would “have massive repercussions right throughout the industry”.
All three called for flexibility in the regulation, especially for livestock truck drivers, to address the problem.
*Not their real names. Names have been changed to protect identity.
Credit: Source link
